College athletes

Everybody knows the college football star Johnny Manziel, or they know him by his nickname Johnny Football, the first ever Freshman Heisman winner. After winning the Heisman trophy and becoming one of the most popular college athletes of all time, the seemingly untouchable Johnny Manziel was then thought to have signed and then sold his autographs for money. Texas A&M brought in 740 million dollars last year and some say a lot of that came from Johnny Manziel being the electrifying player he is. So doesn’t he deserve a little money for doing what he does when the pros get paid for the same things?

For the past few years universities have been banned from bowl games, had wins taken away, and scholarships taken away ,as well for only a few players from the team accepting gifts like money from people. Should college athletes be paid since they risk their bodies and possibly their futures for the university to basically make money off of them?

Adrian Peterson, an NFL sensation, has his own opinions on whether college athletes should be payed. Peterson, who was in the spotlight like today’s Johnny Manziel, believes college athletes should be able to profit from their name which they get fame from (Dator). “I think if you are in a position to where people want to pay you for your autographs or signatures, then you should be able to do that. He’s a young man and he should be able to sign his name on a helmet or wherever without it being an issue.” Peterson said.(Dator) Adrian Peterson is not the only pro athlete who believes college athletes should be paid for all the money they bring to the university and the town itself.

Dez Bryant of the Dallas Cowboys, also has the same views as Adrian because he too went through what Johnny Manziel had to go through in the offseason. The universities make an incredible amount of money from their college athletes so why shouldn’t the athletes be paid? NCAA’s March Madness has become a huge business with their $700,000 30 second ad rate during final four commercials and some of that money goes to the universities that make it that far in the tournament and none of the players get to see any of that. (“Should NCAA Athletes Be Paid”)College Athletes risk career-ending injuries playing a sport for their school without receiving any money at all from the university. “The huge amount of money being made off college sports has led some to question whether student-athletes can be considered amateurs any longer, and whether they should, instead, be paid for their efforts” (“Should NCAA Athletes Be Paid”)

College athletes are the ones who are making the event possible to watch in the first place so why aren’t they being paid? Michael Wilbon says, “I’m interested in seeing the people who produce the revenue share a teeny, tiny slice of it.” Those college athletes who do succeed in college athletics and make a name for themselves deserve to earn a little bit of the money made by the university.

In the meantime, if they cannot be paid outright, surely the scholarship athletes should be able to engage in entrepreneurial pursuits that currently leads to costly NCAA investigations that have proven to be mostly a waste of time since, one, such activities historically haven’t been checked and, two, the kids who commit the “infractions” aren’t effectively punished. (Wilbon) On the other hand, some believe that getting a free education and exposure to possible professional careers is enough to compensate for their efforts.

“Colleges are already compensating their student athletes with tuition, room, board, coaching, nutritional support, and physical trainers that can exceed $100,000 per year in value” (Dorfman). College athletes get enough from the school already including scholarships and don’t deserve money as a payment to them some think. “In the meantime, if they cannot be paid outright, surely the scholarship athletes should be able to engage in entrepreneurial pursuits that currently leads to costly NCAA investigations that have proven to be mostly a waste of time since, one, such activities historically haven’t been checked and, two, the kids who commit the “infractions” aren’t effectively punished.” (Dorfman).

So should college athletes be paid for their efforts and all the risks they endure? Universities are making a big portion of their money from the athletes performing, but not paying them for the same thing the pros do. Johnny Manziel is just one case of an enormous amount of accounts of college athletes accepting money or selling their own merchandise. Considering how many injuries that could stunt a college stars career, why don’t they deserve to be paid? Works Cited james Dator. “Adrian Peterson on Johnny Manziel: NCAA athletes should get paid” SB Nation. 15 Aug. 2013. Web. 16 Sep. 2013 Jeffrey Dorfman. “Pay College Athletes? They’re Already Paid Up To $125,000 Per Year”. Forbes. 29 Aug. 2013. Web. 16 Sep. 2013 Michael Wilbon. “College athletes deserve to be paid”